Percy Jackson and the Gate to Tartarus
by Under the Willow Tree
Summary: When Percy falls deathly ill, no one knows why. But time is running out fast. Together Annabeth, Percy, Nico, Grover, Thalia, Clarrise, and Cris must embark on a quest not only to save all humanity, but also percy's life. Involves the new prophecy
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Calypso's POV

Sometimes, parents suck.

And no, I don't mean the kind of suck where they ground you for a month so that you can't go to that concert. I mean the kind of suck where your father is a Titan Lord who did some crazy stuff during his mid-life crisis, so now he rotting in Tartarus and you're stuck on an island in the middle of literally no where by yourself forever. Didn't see that one coming? Most people don't.

And finally now I had yet another hero wash up on my shores that I had hopelessly fallen in love with. But I needed to get off the island. I needed too be free. So as I poured sweet soup broth into a wooden bowl, I added two drops of the silver poison given to me by my father. I heard a yawn behind me and I turned to find two confused sea green eyes staring into mine.

"Here my hero," I said sweetly to him, "Drink deep, _you'll feel much better_."

I guess you really are who your parents are.

**If you didn't understand, that was Calypso's POV at the time that Percy had washed up on her island in the Battle of the Labyrinth. So if you didn't already know, the two sea green eyes were Percy's. Please review and I hoped you enjoyed it! **

**-Under the Willow Tree**


	2. Chapter 1: I Pass Out at a Party

Chapter 1: I Pass Out At a Party (I Wasn't Drunk)

**(Present Day) Percy's POV**

Mom was ecstatic.

"My little Percy's growing up!" she sobbed as I hung bright blue streamers from our apartment ceiling.

"It's just a party Sally," Paul chuckled, setting two jumbo sized bottles of coke out on our tiny dining room table. Suddenly serious he said, "Now Percy, I don't want any trouble so think responsibly. Your mother and I-"

"Oh come on Paul" I said rolling my eyes, "Half-Bloods don't drink anyway. The risks our too great that one of us would hit someone with a sword or ignite something with Greek fire."

"Alright, alright!" Paul threw his hands up in surrender.

"And Percy what do you do if monsters—" my mom started.

"I call Chiron and get everyone to camp straight away." We had been over this at least 1000 times this winter break.

"And if Grover starts chewing on the sofa again?"

"I politely direct him to our stash of aluminum cans in the kitchen."

"Good. OK sweetheart, have fun!" she said happily before giving me a hug and leading Paul outside.

"But not too much fun," Paul warned before closing the door behind them.

After all my blue preparations had been set, I waited anxiously for my demigod party to begin. The doorbell rang and I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. Annabeth came through the door first, pecking me on the cheek as she went by. I blushed as Thalia winked at me and Nico punched me on the shoulder.

"Keep it G you two!" Clarisse sneered, dragging her boyfriend Chris in behind her over to the soda.

"Why did you invite her again?" Grover asked me as he stepped inside from the cold.

"My mom said it would be _nice_. And besides, Clarisse did kind of save my sorry butt last summer when she killed the Drakon."

"Doesn't mean you have to willingly invite her to crash your party," Grover mumbled but I ignored him.

"OK everybody," I began, turning to the mob of demigods in front of me. Suddenly our apartment seemed really small. "I just wanted to say that—"

"No need to give us a whole monologue Kelp Head," Annabeth rolled her eyes, "We're all happy just to be somewhere outside of camp or school."

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Thalia yelled before running over to our stereo to crank up some heavy metal rock music.

"OH NO WAY TWIT! WE ARE SO NOT LISTENING TO YOUR STUPID PUNK CRAP!" yelled Clarisse, charging over like a rodeo bull to Thalia. "KATY PERRY ALL THE WAY!"

I decided not to ponder Clarisse's unexpected choice of music, and looked at the scene around me. The party was going well. Nico and Chris stood in the corner having a conversation with a dead ghost that Nico had conjured who looked suspiciously like Abraham Lincoln. Annabeth sat at the table cheerfully blabbing to Grover about an ancient monument in Egypt while he stared longingly at our couch.

I was about to offer him a Red Bull aluminum can, when the doorbell rang for the pizzas. I paid the gangly, acne covered delivery man and slammed the door in his face before he could finish saying, "Hey is that Abraham Linc—"

Then all at once, I felt sick.

My head pounded and the world swirled around me in muti- colored hues. I dropped the pizza's in surprise.

"Percy are you alright?" Annabeth asked sounding worried.

"Yeah, I just need a glass of water," I slurred before the ground spun up to meet me.

I blinked my eyes drearily on the floor, and saw blurred faces above me. The last think I felt before I descended into darkness was Annabeth's warm hands urgently shaking my shoulders.

**What ya think? (wink* wink*) For those of us who our confused, this chapter takes place the winter after the Last Olympian so Percy is still 16. Will try to post more as soon as I can, please give a round of applause to my fantastic partner in crime Dani, who helped me with some of the ideas for this story and has always been my loyal editor! **

**-Under the Willow Tree**


	3. Chapter 2: My Parents Argue Over Cookies

Chapter 2: My Parents Argue Over Cookies

Percy's POV

I woke with the smell of sweet, warm, chocolate chip cookie wafting through my nose.

So of course, I had to open my eyes to identify the source of this angelic smell. (I mean, who the Gods wouldn't?)

I winced as sunlight pierced my eyes and turned my head slowly to the left. And there they were. Bright blue and stacked in their chocolaty goodness on the bedside table. I tried to lift my arm to reach out and grab one, but gowned when I couldn't even muster the strength to lift one finger. That's about the time I actually became aware of my surroundings.

I was defiantly in the camp Half-Blood hospital wing; I'd been there enough times to know that. What I didn't notice was the huge crowd surrounding me at the foot of my bed.

"Oh, Um Hi" I said with embarrassment to Annabeth, Grover, Chiron, Nico, Thalia, my mom and Paul.

"No problem man," said Grover before he grabbed a cookie off the bedside table, and helped me sit up.

While I was chowing down, Annabeth approached me, looking almost angry.

"What was _that_, Percy?"

"What?" I said my mouth full. The whole room was silent.

"You suddenly pass out at your own party, no explanation, so nobody knows what's wrong with you. And then all you care about is a stupid blue cookie?" she was almost yelling in the end.

"Look it wasn't a big deal! I was probably just dehydrated or something!"

"Annabeth's right Percy." My mom said softly from her chair in the back, "You scared us all."

Instantly I felt bad, but how can I control my own feinting anyway?

"Well I'm fine now," I swung my feet over the side of the bed, thankful that I was still in my jeans and t-shirt and not one of those dorky hospital gowns. I stood on my feet slowly and instantly felt that same weird nauseating feeling overcome me. My knees buckled and Annabeth caught me before I could crumple to the ground. My ears were ringing, and my body suddenly felt like it had been plunged into a bucket of ice cold water in the middle of the Artic tundra. I began to shiver, and Annabeth pushed me back down onto the bed, wrapping the rough cotton sheets around me.

"II'm F-F-F-ine" I said again, but it sounded pretty pathetic with my teeth chattering.

"No your not," she said sternly, "Your sick."

Further to help me prove my point, I broke down into a fit of coughs. When I was done I groaned and flopped back onto my pillows,

"Ok, maybe I am sick,"

"Just a bad cold, I presume Mrs. Jackson," Chiron told my mom, "Percy can stay here until he—"

At that moment, I turned and puked over the side of the bed. It landed right on Nico.

"Just great," He mumbled looking up to the ceiling as if to say, "WHY ME!"

"Sorry," I said lamely.

"Don't worry about it," he said through tight lips.

"Chiron are you sure that we shouldn't take Percy to a normal hospital?" mom asked, sounding unconvinced.

"I assure we'll take good care of him" Chiron responded confidently, "You know I have been doing this for at least 10,000 years."

He led my mom and Paul outside, with a gagging Nico and a laughing Thalia in pursuit. Annabeth and Grover were all who remained talking in hushed voices at the end of my bed. I tried to keep my eyes open, but I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I awoke to yelling coming from the other room.

It was now dark outside, but I could still see the large storm brewing. It was pouring rain inside the camp, never a good sign. The hospital wing was dark and empty. I was alone. I stood up shakily and wrapped my blanket around me to keep out the frigid air. A light came from the crack under the door across the hall, and I shuffled forward, pressing my eye to the key hole.

The cabin leaders sat on the couches surrounding the ping pong table. Chiron, now in wheel chair form dwelled in the corner with Mr. D who was shuffling poker cards looking bored. And in the middle of the room, stood my parents shouting at each other, while another plate of delicious blue cookies steamed next to them on the ping pong table. Paul was just standing off to the side looking very awkward.

The Sea Gods face was purple with rage, and the veins in his neck stood out,

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE NEEDS SALLY!"

"OH, AND YOU DO?" my mother snapped back, "YOU LEFT! YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIM UNTIL HE WAS TWELVE! SO DON'T TELL ME THAT

YOU-"

"YOU FULLY KNOW THAT I WANTED TO STAY AND I WOULD'VE IF I COULD! OR ARE YOU FORGETTING THAT PERCY WAS TECHNICLY ILLEGAL AND ZEUS WOULD HAVE—"

Mr. D spoke up in his lethargic tone, "Sorry to interrupt you two love birds, but your little wonder boy is standing right outside,"

Oh Dang.

The door swung open and I was like a deer caught in headlights.

"Um, Hi," I said brilliantly.

"Percy!" my mother scolded, (I was just happy she wasn't angry), "Your still sick! You shouldn't be out of bed!"

She pulled me over to the couch and sat me down next to Annabeth. As I took a seat I sagged back into the pillows. I hadn't realized how exhausted I had been just from my little Sherlock Holms Adventure across the hall.

Ben, the new leader of the Hephaestus cabin offered me a cookie but I shook my head. After my little puking escapade, I didn't have much of an appetite. From across the room Nico looked relived from my lack of food consumed as well.

"Percy son," my dad boomed, "How are you feeling?"

I actually felt worse than I had before but instead I said, "Better! Thanks!"

Both Annabeth and my mother shot me looks that said, "I know better."

There was an awkward silence before my dad said, "Well, um maybe I should be going,"

No one said anything, but Chiron rolled silently forward, leading Poseidon out of the Big House.

Talk erupted as soon as the god had left and the room was filled with the buzzes of many voices. Then—

"_Oh no," _I thought, "_Not again!_"

My head pounded and the world swirled but instead of everything going black, I saw the face of Selena, daughter of Aphrodite.

She looked the same as she had always, every hair perfectly hair sprayed into place, each nail carefully manicured. The only thing different was her eyes. Instead of brown, they were a deep gold, and they glistened with hatred.

"You." She said, her cold voice echoing through the blackness, "You killed me Percy; it's your fault I died!"

I shook my head slowly, this could not be happening. "I'm sorry there was nothing I could do, Kronos he would have-"

"Left us all alone if it weren't for you!" she nearly screamed, "You're the reason Bechendorf died! You're the reason we all died! I HATE YOU!"

Now she had gold tears streaming down her face, each one like looking breakable and delicate.

"Please!" I tried again, nearly in tears myself, "I didn't mean for you to die, I would have died for you if I could! I'm sorry!"

"It's too late for that, Percy!" she sobbed.

Then the world began to fade, and I greeted it with open arms. Anything to get away from that nightmare.


	4. Rachel Shows Her Stealthy Side

CHAPTER 3: RACHEL SHOWS HER STEALTHY SIDE

Annabeth's POV:

It was getting worse.

Chiron had at least convinced Paul and Sally to return to the city, despite Sally's protesting, and crying for that matter. Since Percy feinted, everything had gone downhill. He was pale and clammy all the time, and couldn't even stand up without help from me or another camper.

"What's happening to me?" he asked, after wiping his mouth.

"Honestly Percy, nobody knows…" I stopped, he was turning slightly green again, and I quickly shoved the bucket back under his face before he could vomit all over his sheets.

"Best. Girlfriend. Ever." He gasped afterward, "Holding the bucket that your disgusting boyfriend is puking in,"

"Hey, no problem" I said as he leaned back against his pillows once more shutting his eyes. "Get better soon Kelp-Head," I whispered as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

I shut the door to the hospital wing as quietly as I could, and then whipped around as I saw a flash of red.

"By gods Rachel! Don't do that!"

"Oh, sorry," Rachel muttered sheepishly, "Didn't mean to make you jump,"

"A little bit of heads up would have been nice!"

Rachel's red frizzy hair was in total disarray, as usual. She wore a white t-shirt that said "SNOOPY HAS FEELINGS TOO!" along with her mediocre ripped jeans with paint stains.

"Chiron's called a meeting on the porch. It's about, well, you-know-who," she gestured to the hospital wing with a thumb.

"Ok, I'll be there in a sec"

"Cool pies!" she turned and took off down the hallway.

My ADHD side, paused for a second to ponder exactly what "Cool Pies!" meant, before I reminded myself that Chiron was waiting and I followed Rachel out to the sunny porch.

I was greeted by basically the same group as four days ago, minus Poseidon. Instead, there was a tall, proud looking figure standing next to Rachel. For some reason the sun seemed to shine so brightly around him, that I couldn't even get a good look at him without covering my eyes.

"Hey Apollo! Your blinding us here, crank down the spotlight a few notches," Shouted Rachel

"Whoops! Forgot y'all have lousy mortal eyes!" grinned the smiley sun god as the light faded to normal around him.

"Is he any better?" Chiron asked me, and everybody turned to stare.

"No," I sighed, and everybody, even the upbeat god of the sun looked downcast.

"I examined him a couple of days ago," began Apollo.

"Wait you _examined _him?" exclaimed Nico.

"Uh, yeah dude. It's my job remember? God of healing—"

"Wait but when? None of us have seen you,"

"We'll I just came at night, with Sis's permission of course. She's one person you sure would not want to tick off!"

"Now man, no offence," said Nico shaking his head, "But that's a little creepy-"

"ANYWAY, moving on" interrupted Apollo, looking slightly embarrassed now, "When I checked him over I attempted to heal him myself,"

"Wait attempted? You mean it didn't work?"Asked Thalia looking startled.

"Clearly not," snorted Clarisse.

Apollo shook his head, "If my powers couldn't heal him there is only one explanation. He must have been cursed or poisoned by another immortal."

"But he's dying!" I tried to keep myself from yelling, "Can't you do anything?"

"S'against the rules. I'm not allowed to mess with another gods work, bad mojo. But because I am just that awesome, I can do this,"

He snapped his fingers and Rachel instantly drooped foreword like a dead flower beside him. Then, a split second later, she shot up straight and her eyes snapped open. They were glowing green like bright neon signs.

"_Annabeth Chase,_" she rasped, her voice sounding like it had been multiplied by ten,

"_Seven half bloods shall answer the call, _

_To storm or fire the world must fall, _

_An oath to keep with final breath, _

_And foes bear arms at the doors of death," _

Rachel gasped and leached forward but Apollo put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"That's my girl," he said with a smile, and Rachel blushed slightly.

"Oh goody, goody!" shout Dionysus from his purple deck chair, "A quest where I finally get to get rid of seven of you brats at least for a bit!"

Everybody glared at him.

"What?" he asked looking confused.

"When will you be ready to leave Annabeth?" Chiron asked.

"Tomorrow morning." I decided, "I'll bring Grover, Thalia, Nico, Clarisse, and Chris, that is, if you guys want to come?"

"Of course!" Thalia said, gesturing to her and Nico.

"Defiantly," said Grover.

I looked to Clarisse and Chris.

"Well, since there is nothing better to do," ground out Clarisse.

"Yeah, I mean I haven't been on a quest in-"began Chris, but Clarisse elbowed him hard in the ribs.

I lowered my voice, "Listen. Percy is _not _to know about this quest. Knowing him he'll do something crazy."

Everyone nodded.

"Then pack your things, we leave bright and early tomorrow morning."


	5. I Learn to Skydive

Chapter 4: I Learn to Skydive

Percy POV

"We leave tomorrow," I heard Annabeth say while listening through my window.

There was no way I was going to let her, and all of my friends (maybe excluding Clarisse), risk their lives for me. Yep. I was going with them.

"_You sure about this boss?" _Blackjack asked me for the fourth time, "_You still look a bit banged up,_"

"I'm fine Blackjack. Did you grab my backpack?"

"_Yep. Whatever you say boss._"

"Then let's go,"

I mustered all of my remaining strength to heave myself out of the Big House window and onto Blackjack. The morning was warm, but cloudy, and the stars were just beginning to fade. We scanned the area for nearby Harpies, and then took off smoothly from the ground.

I hung on tight to Blackjack's mane and pushed back my growing feelings of nausea. Then far below, I caught sight of a blue van driving down the lone country road that led to Camp Half-Blood.

It was them.

How badly I wanted to be in the safe confinements of Argus's van. I imagined briefly what would be occurring. Argus would be blasting oldies music, and Annabeth would have her head buried in Great Architecture of the World. Clarisse and Thalia would be feverishly arguing over who had the better weapons and Nico and Chris would be rolling their eyes. Grover would be munching-

I brought myself back to reality and where I was, thousands of feet above the ground.

"There they are. Stay on them Blackjack, but make sure they can't see us,"

"_No problem boss,_"

About an hour later, when we had reached the outskirts of New York City, the van pulled over and six tiny figures got out. Blackjack and I landed on the roof of a skyscraper, from where we could watch their progress but still remain unseen.

We tracked the small procession as they made twists and turns, navigating throughout the labyrinth of a city. Then suddenly, they were gone.

"_I lost'em boss!_"

"Let's fly over the area to see if we can find them again," I suggested.

We took flight, but then I heard a high-pitched shriek that made my blood boil. Two Furies were sniveling and smirking behind us, hot on our trail.

"Did you miss us Perseus Jackson?" cackled one of them who was wearing an ugly pink sweater with cats badly stitched on the front.

The other one who was wearing an equally bad sweater except in green hissed, "Sissy, I think we should give him a reunion that he will _remember_!"

They lunged, and Blackjack whinnied in surprise, diving out of the way with a spin that took all my effort not to fall. Ugly-Sweater-One lashed out with a claw, and Blackjack performed another bone-rattling dive, this one pulling me free from his back.

I barely hung on, grasping Blackjack's leg for dear life. Below, the mist must have made it look like a crazy teenage boy was hanging out of a helicopter. I briefly wondered if my mom was watching.

"_Hold on boss! Don't panic Blackjack, don't panic-" _

I slipped.

**Hey guys! I just really had to fix the Fates thing….. Sorry before I began writing this chapter I was writing a poem for English about Fate, got a little bit mixed up! And please, feel free to tell me about anymore mistakes or errors in my story, I really love constructive criticism! Just remember, writing really mean things like "THIS IS AWFUL! GO STICK YOUR HANDS IN A BLENDER!" Is just really hurtful, I actually did see something like that written as a review about somebody's story. Thanks for being so supportive! **

**-Under the Willow Tree**


	6. NIco Needs a GPS

Chapter 5: Nico Needs A GPS

Annabeth POV:

I. Was. About. Ready. To. Throw. Something.

"But it was supposed to be right here!" said Nico, scratching his head.

Thalia wrenched the map out of his grasp, "You idiot! Ninth Avenue is over HERE! Now we're all the way over here!"

"Oops. Guess my map reading never was that great anyways, we didn't really learn about that kind of thing in the Lotus Casino."

"Could have told us that before you said you wanted to lead genius," complained Clarisse.

"You guys, let's just catch a taxi and head back over to Ninth Avenue, we're losing daylight." I said, gritting my teeth.

"Annabeth's right. We don't have much time, let's move it people!" said Grover, almost instantly perking everybody back up again.

Once we were heading the right direction in a taxi, I told him, "You know, if your heart wasn't set on the whole "save the plants" thing, you would have been a great cheerleader."

"There would be no way," he held up his hands, "That I could ever squeeze into one of those itsy-bitsy uniforms,"

I laughed for the first time since about a week ago.

"Driver stop!" Chris tapped the taxi driver on the shoulder, stuffing a ten-dollar bill into his hand, "Right here is great, thanks."

I stepped outside and looked around.

In front of us was a giant store with a sign out front that said, "THE VITAMIN SUPER SHOP".

"Annabeth, why exactly are we going here again?" asked Grover.

"It's run by the Asclepius sisters," "Who are?" "Apollo's grand-kids, minor goddesses of healing. Specifically, we're here to see Panacea. The goddess of cures." "Who are the other goddesses?" asked Thalia. "There's Laso the goddess of recuperation, Hygieia the goddess of disease prevention, Aseco the goddess of recovery, and Aglaea the goddess of natural beauty." "Sounds like we hit the jackpot," said Chris. "Let's head in-" I froze when I heard a scream behind me. I turned to look, and there was a lady across the street with an expression of pure horror on her face. A man next to her was pointing at the sky shakily with one finger. "Someone get him down from there!" somebody shouted. "Call 911!" "IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!" I looked up to where they were pointing in the sky. Nobody other than my own Percy Jackson, was dangling 5,000 feet above our very heads, barely hanging on by a single Pegasus leg. I couldn't keep myself from yelling, "HE IS SO STUPID!" Then he fell. Thalia screamed, and Grover shouted, "NO!" He fell for what seemed like eternity, then Blackjack, thank the gods, swooshed under him in a dive worthy of Superman. "Yeah great trick! I love it when sky-divers perform!" shouted Nico, cleverly fabricating a story for the mortals to belive. They humans seemed to buy it, and as busy New Yorkers, they continued on with their busy lives. I saw Percy and Blackjack land in an alleyway a bit down the street. I marched down to it, my face flushed with anger, "PERSEUS JACKSON!" I yelled. He turned after dismounting Blackjack, and when he saw us, his face turned red with embarrassment. "DO YOU KNOW HOW SCARED I JUST WAS! HOW COULD YOU EVEN COME HERE ANYWAY WHEN YOUR SICK AND SO MANY GOOD PEOPLE ARE WORRYING ABOUT YOU? CAN'T YOU EVER JUST MAKE YOUR STUPID ADHD- SELF STAY PUT?" "Oh, um sorry," he said looking at his feet. "WELL THAT'S NOT—" I began, but stopped. He actually did look sincerely sorry, and still as crappy as he had been when I had left him. Suddenly he moaned and put a hand to his forehead. "Stupid headache," "Come I said," taking his hand, my anger dissolving, "I think I may have found someone who can help you. I am working on the next chapter, but I just had to fix some errors with the spacing and stuff in this chapter first. I will often go back and rewrite a few things from previous chapters I've written, especially if you guys say that something is not clear enough. Sorry if you guys get those silly little emails that say that I've updated, and you get all excited only to find that I really didn't post a new chapter….. well at least I hope you would get excited! (gives little hopeful stare) Thanks a ton! -Under the Willow Tree 


	7. I Experiment With Hair Dye

Chapter 6:

Percy POV:

After my little falling stunt, everything ached twice as bad. Nico and Chris had to half carry half drag me across the street to the Vitamin Super Store. If we had been anywhere but New York City, people would have stopped and stared.

I shivered as the automatic doors moved aside for us. The inside of the large building was cold with over air-conditioning. It was also unnaturally clean; I saw nothing on the floor even as small as a speck of dirt. The whole place smelled of hand-sanitizer, a scent we were definitely not used to, coming from Camp Half-Blood. There were only a few other customers, who moved lazily between the aisles, staring at brightly colored pill bottles.

We walked back to the pharmacy counter when suddenly, out of nowhere, a crazed looking lady leapt out from behind a shelf.

"AHHHHH!" she screamed, frantically dropping to her knees, "You are all so unclean! You're getting germs EVERYWHERE!"

She whipped out a bottle of Lysol, and began to frenetically spray everything in sight, including people. She hurried quickly away and out of view.

"Well that was strange," Grover commented, "O.C.D. much?"

"Sorry about that," said a voice, and one of the prettiest women I had ever seen stepped out from behind a shelf of asthma products. "My sister has some, issues, I guess with being clean."

She had long dark hair that fell to her waist, and light blue eyes that were framed by freckles. She wore no makeup, and for a moment, she reminded me of Calypso.

"Who are you?" Nico asked, staring with wide eyes, drool practically dripping from his mouth.

Thalia's stormy eyes glistened with annoyance as reached out a finger and gave Nico a good shock on the arm. He blinked a few times, not comprehending what had just happened.

"My name is Aglaea,"

"You're the goddess of natural beauty right?" questioned Annabeth, inquisitive as always.

Aglaea chuckled lightly, the sound like water falling over stones.

"Yep, that's what they call me. You're the demigods then, Apollo told us you were coming."

"We are here to see your sister Panacea."

"This is the sick one isn't it?" Aglaea asked, walking towards me, "Poor thing, but what's this?"

She examined the gray steak in my hair curiously. The stripe of grey hair was one of the things Annabeth and I had in common. It was our scar, our reminder of the weight of the world on our shoulders. She reached out and stroked the piece of hair gently, the second she touched it, it changed from mossy grey to the vibrant and youthful color of the rest of my hair.

"That's better," she murmured, I was too tired to even care what she did.

Annabeth certainly did though.

"Hey change that back!"

"But don't you think it looks much _better_ this way dear?" Aglaea asked, her perfect lips starting to pout.

"Just change it back!"

"Fine, Fine. No need to shout, though I personally like this color better,"

She touched my hair again, and the streak faded back to grey.

"Follow me," Aglaea turned on her heal and stalked through a new door that I hadn't noticed before, behind the pharmacy counter.

The doorway opened into a surprisingly big room that was just as clean as the others, except that this one was dimly lit. Yet another dark haired lady stood in the corner, eagerly peering into a glass flask that was filled with a murky blue liquid.

"What do you think Aglaea?" she asked in a pondering tone, "Do you think it's time I finally give the mortals the cure for cancer?"

"Um, Sis? Aglaea coughed, "We have company,"

"Oh, you must be the ones that Apollo sent," she turned around, looking at us through thick glasses, "I'm Panacea,"

Clearly she had not inherited the same beauty genes her sister had. Her eyes were almost as black as her hair, which stuck up in all directions in various clumps.

"I would like to run a few tests on your friend," she told us pointing at me, "Before I determine exactly what wrong with him. Leave please!"

Everybody began to file out of the room except for me and Annabeth.

"I am staying with Percy," she said with a determined look on her face.

"Fine. As long as you don't get in the way," Panacea muttered with annoyance.

She proceeded to ask me a flurry of questions, most of them concerning my medical history. She checked my heart-rate, temperature, and even the humidity of the inside of my mouth. At one point, I began to drift off asleep, and Annabeth had to shake my shoulder.

"When did you first begin feeling symptoms?"

"Last week, "I answered.

"And feeding him ambrosia and water didn't help?" she asked Annabeth.

"Nope,"

Panacea scribbled some notes down on her clipboard, then finally she turned to face us.

"Have either of you ever heard of _Aconitum napellus__?" _

_Annabeth and I stared at each other in confusion. _

_"Wolfsbane? The Queen of Poisons?" _

_We shook our heads. _

_"It was feared greatly among the ancient Greeks and wisely so. It drips from the jaws of Cerberus in the underworld, and is almost impossible to aquire unless—" _

_"You are immortal," Annabeth finished for her, "So what's the cure?" _

_"Well that's just it," Panacea sighed, "There isn't one." _

_**All of this stuff about the poison and the grand-daughters of Apollo is actually accurate, I did some research and Panacea was actually the god of cures, as was **__Aglaea__** the goddess of natural beauty. If you want to know more, you should research it because it's really interesting. Again I apologize for any mistakes I made while writing this chapter! **_

_**Thanks! **_

_**-Under the Willow Tree**_


	8. I Now Know Why I Would Be A Bad Vampire

Chapter 7: I Now Know That I Would Be A Bad Vampire

Percy POV:

Ok, I have to admit. Panacea's response bummed me out a little. Maybe, even the slightest bit more than a little.

"What do you mean?" asked Annabeth, her hands and voice shaking.

I reached out and grabbed one of her hands, and she instantly shivered. I let go. _Wow my body must be freezing or something. _

"Every vile of _Aconitum napellus_ is different. It cannot be created the same way twice, so therefore every bottle has a different cure, pertaining to its own creator," Panacea explained slowly in a methodical voice.

"Then what if we could find who poisoned Percy? We could force them to give us the cure!" Annabeth said, her voice growing with excitement.

"Ah, but that's just it," said Panacea shaking her head, "The poisoner might not be that willing to give you the cure. You see, the cure must be made of a mixture of the poison itself, and the poisoner's _blood_."

"Gross," I said, trying to keep from gagging.

"That's where the _force_ part comes in," said Thalia, cracking her knuckles while she strolled into the room casually.

"Sorry we couldn't help listening in," Nico said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So, do you really think that we might be able to help Percy by finding out who poisoned him?" Grover asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"In theory? Yes, but the world is a big place and-" Panacea threw a glance at me, "And your running out of time fast."

"We have to try," Annabeth stated, her mind clearly made up.

"Looks like we actually have a lead guys," said Chris, "First stop, JFK Airport!"

"Can't I just take the Pegasus?" Thalia moaned, hating flying.

"It won't be fast enough," Annabeth told her.

"Fine. Only for you Percy," Thalia muttered, swallowing hard.

Nico helped me from the examination table, and everyone bowed to Panacea as we left the chilly Vitamin Super Store.

Anglaea waved to us on our way out, and Nico waved back, almost with a little too much enthusiasm. We began to walk down the busy streets, taking short cut through a dark alleyway.

"Well, how interesting," said a deep voice from behind us.

We whipped around, and standing before us was a lion the size of a Jeep.

Annabeth gasped, and everybody looked towards her expectantly, waiting for her to tell everybody what this creature was.

"That's a Neades! Don't make any sudden movements or loud noises, their roars can split the ground-"

I heard a shout to my right, and turned to find Grover sprawled unconscious on the ground.

"Grover man, are you all—"

Just then, I was hard in the back of the head with a heavy object, and the world around me faded.

**As before, the Neades were actually real creatures in greek mythology that lived on the island of Samos. Thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter! **

**-Under the Willow Tree**


	9. Thalia Roasts Some Snake Smores

Chapter 8: Thalia Roasts Some Snake Smores

I awoke to the sound of waves.

Not a bad sound in my book, considering the fact that it was also the ring setting on my alarm clock. I opened my eyes, taking a deep breath of the humid air.

_Wait. The humid air? New York City air is like the opposite of humid! _

I shot up straight, and instantly regretted the harsh movement. I broke into a painful fit of coughs, and despite all my best attempts to keep them muffled, my friends stirred awake around me.

"Percy, you alright? Where are we?" asked Thalia, rubbing her head.

"Not-*cough* Sure—*cough*" I spluttered, barely able to get words out.

Annabeth patted my back, and soon my coughing subsided.

I finally had the chance to look around, and the first thing I noticed was the thirty meter pool that rested by the large outdoor cage that we were held in. The sun was shining brightly, and palm trees and tropical flowers thrived everywhere. A little bit higher up, resting on a steep green hill, lay a giant white mansion, surrounded by huge white marble coluMMS. The building looked as if it belonged more in an acient Greece history book than the modern 21st centery.

Beside the pool, under umbrellas, and reclining in chairs, were two ladies. They wore dark sunglasses, and pink swimsuit cover-ups, all of their hair wrapped away in headscarves. One sipped a pina-colada, while another was stroking the head of the large Neades that we had encountered in the alleyway.

"Awwww, look sissy! Our guests are awake!" The one stroking the Neades hissed.

_Again, hissed? Bad sign number 2! _

The second lady, lazily looked over, reluctantly putting down her pina-colada.

"Oh, finally! Mortals are so boring when they sleep, and that one drools!" she droned, pointing a finger at Nico.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" yelled Clarrise, slamming her fists against the bars.

"A child of Ares, I see. Tut, tut. Impatient, impatient," she said shaking her head.

The other lady answered the question, "Why you simply _must _know of us. You were good friends with are sister after all!"

That made my blood run cold.

"Everyone close your eyes! They're Gorgans!" I shouted, as the two ladies removed their dark shades.

An awful chorus of hissing snakes sounded directly in front of us.

"Awww… but don't you want to look at our beautiful eyes?" drawled the first sister, "We're told they're even bluer then our sister's, though nobody ever remembers our names,"

"What about you, son of Hades?" the second sister stroked Nico's face, but he kept his eyes closed tightly shut.

Her voice became a wimper.

"You wouldn't want to make me cry would you? Cry as your sister Bianca did the night she died and you weren't there to save her?"

Nico flinched, but next to him Thalia yelled, "No Nico! Don't open your eyes! That's what they want you to do!"

"_You_." The first sister, snarled, grabbing Thalia by the hair, and yanking her from the cage, "Don't you remember our names? After all, you have stayed with us before,"

"Euryale and Stheno," Thalia ground out angrily through her teeth.

"That's right sweetie! Now where's that pretty blonde boy that was with you the last time? The one with the scar? He's not here to protect you like he was last time, now is he?"

"Shutup!"

"Don't touch her!" Nico yelled.

"How touching, the son of Hades is defending her. Well then , it's only appropriate that you two die _together_!"

I felt a dash of wind pass my face as Euryale lunged at my friends, and suddenly, I remembered the swimming pool.

I focused all of my energy on feeling the water before me, said a quick, two second prayer to my dad, and urged a huge wave to form. Apparently my plan worked, because five seconds later, I heard one of the two sisters scream.

"I'M WET!"

I had bought Thalia some time, and she caught onto my plan. There was a crack of thunder and lightning as she unleashed her powers, causing more screaming from the sisters, and the smell of burning snakes skin.

"MY HAIR IS ON FIRE!" Stheno screamed.

Then to just put the icing on the cake, Nico raised his hands over his head and with a loud grunt, lifted ten dead soldiers from the ground. You can say that even with all of our eyes closed, the two sisters didn't stand a chance against the awesome powers of the children of the Big Three. There was clanking of metal as the skeletal soldiers surrounded the sisters, swinging their weapons and closing in fast.

With a one last squeal and a shout of, " I'LL GET MY REVENGE YOU REVOLTING HALF-BLO-" the two sisters dissolved into little more than a fine powder.

Everyone opened their eyes, and Nico and I exchanged tired expressions.

Nico yawned loudly, almost all of his energy drained and said, "Hey guys, usually after an event where we fight with creepy monsters, I would want to ditch the place, but I have to say, I'm about ready to drop,"

"That house up there does look pretty nice," Chris stated.

"Then we'll spend the night here," Annabeth decided, still the leader of our quest, "We need to stock up on food, and maybe if we're lucky, they''ll have a couple jars of greek fire laying around.


	10. Letter to Readers

Letter to Readers:

Dear Faithful Readers,

After thinking long and hard, I have decided to rewrite this story with the same plot line, just using more relevant characters and a new prophecy. It will go under the name of Percy Jackson and the Staff of Asclepius. I already have the first few chapters written and a whole story board planned out, I hope you will check it out! Thanks for all your support!

-Under the Willow Tree

P.S. I am looking for a new beta, so if you are interested just say so in the reviews! : D


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